2019 DI NCAA XC Championships

Anatomy Of A NCAA Women's Championships XC Team

Anatomy Of A NCAA Women's Championships XC Team

We looked at 21 years of results to discover what it takes to win an NCAA women's XC team title.

Oct 29, 2019 by Kevin Sully
Anatomy Of A NCAA Women's Championships XC Team
Last year, we dug into the last 21 years of the men's and women's results from the NCAA Cross Country Championships to identify some commonalities among the championship teams. The analysis didn’t yield definitive rules to win a title, but it did provide some guidelines.

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Last year, we dug into the last 21 years of the men's and women's results from the NCAA Cross Country Championships to identify some commonalities among the championship teams. The analysis didn’t yield definitive rules to win a title, but it did provide some guidelines.

Is it possible to win a championship without a runner in the top 10? Perhaps, but it hasn’t been done yet. 

How many runners need to finish in the top 20 for a team to leave victorious? History says three (it’s happened in 19 of the 20 championships). 

Yesterday, I updated the men's with data through 2018. Today, I added the women. 

YearWomen's Champion1st Runner2nd Runner3rd Runner4th Runner5th RunnerScoreMargin
2018Colorado181522246538
2017New Mexico16911639015
2016Oregon491647491251
2015New Mexico451112174980
2014Michigan State491316438562
2013Providence51624425414156
2012Oregon2328324911469
2011Georgetown3333644461628
2010Villanova1820226912034
2009Villanova6122022268647
2008Washington591920267952
2007Stanford82730374314532
2006Stanford32745586219528
2005Stanford71519357014635
2004Colorado291020226381
2003Stanford362023681208
2002BYU461528328528
2001BYU57920216286
2000Colorado1723384811750
1999BYU8131417207253
1998Villanova10111518521064

Average4.111.719.527.84310641.2


-Like the men, a championship women's team always has at least one runner in the top 10 of the meet. A low-stick was even more necessary in the past eight years when the winning squad had at least one finisher in the top eight.

-The average winning score for a men’s team is 83 points, while the women’s champion has an average of 106. This is mirrored in the individual places where the women’s finishers were behind the men when comparing all five scoring runners. 

Men:      #1 3.7

              #2 7.4

              #3 12.3

              #4 23.2 

              #5 36.9

Women: #1 4.1

              #2 11.7

              #3 19.5

              #4 27.8

              #5 43

The cause of this is open to interpretation. Perhaps the top men’s runners cluster themselves more in top programs, creating “super teams.” Or, the women’s 6K distance allows for more parity. 

But just because the winning score has been considerably lower, doesn’t mean the race has been less competitive. The average men’s margin of victory was 45.8 points, while women’s winners were 41.2 better than second place. A difference, but not a dramatic one. 

-While the top runner finished anywhere between first and 10th, there was a wide range for each team’s second woman across the line. 

Oregon won the 2012 national championship with their second scoring runner scoring three points, leading them to a resounding 69-point victory over Providence. The year before, Georgetown took the title with their second runner scoring 33 points. 

-For the men, four All-Americans was a prerequisite. This is basically true for the women although four past champions have had their number four runner finish outside of the top 40. The 2006 Stanford squad is the only championships team to only have two inside the first 40. That team scored 195 points, the highest in the history of the meet.